Hoops update: Morris Area Chokio Alberta

John Tiernan drives toward the basket in the Tigers' 54-39 win over YME Friday. (B.W. photos)
Jacob Torgerson plays defense during the Tigers' WCC-South win at home Friday.
Austin Dierks shows the kind of form that produced 21 points. Morris Area Chokio Alberta treated the appreciative home crowd to a 54-39 win.
Logan Manska sizes up the Yellow Medicine East defense.

Boys basketball: Tigers 54, YME 39

Win No. 11 was notched by the Morris Area Chokio Alberta boys hoops squad Friday (1/27) at home. The success came at the expense of the YME Sting.
The orange and black cause prevailed with a strong second half. The second half really told the story as coach Mark Torgerson's squad outscored the Sting 30-15.

The Sting held their own in the first half, good enough to be tied with MACA at halftime, 24-all. The usual robust fan turnout was on hand at our gym. Tiger boosters smiled as their team seized the second half "mo."

The ultimate 54-39 win was the Tigers' sixth in conference.

The success was in spite of cool three-point shooting where the numbers were three of 17. Chandler Erickson made two of the long-rangers and Logan Manska had the other. In total field goals the Tigers were 20 of 54. In freethrows: 11 of 18.

Austin Dierks came to the fore with his caliber of play. He scored a team-best 21 points and also led in rebounds with eleven. Riley Arndt grabbed six rebounds.

Jake Torgerson had four assists and Brody Bahr three. Manska and Arndt each had three steals.

Dierks with his 21 points was followed in scoring by: Erickson 8, Manska 7, Arndt 6, Bahr 6, Tom Holland 2, Daniel Nelson 2 and Nic Vipond 2.

Adam Savariego was YME's top scorer with 13 points.

The Tigers came out of the night at 11-4 in overall, 6-1 in conference. The YME numbers: 4-9 overall, 1-5 in conference.

Girls basketball: NL-Spicer 62, Tigers 48

New London was the destination for Morris Area Chokio Alberta girls basketball Thursday (1/26).

The host Wildcats made a statement with their first half play, outscoring the Tigers 37-18. Coach Dale Henrich's Tigers upped their caliber of play in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 30-25. But the damage had been done.

Taylor Thunstedt put in 32 points as her Wildcats downed the Tigers 62-48.

The Wildcats came out of the night at 15-3 in overall won-lost.

The Tigers made six 3-pointers but needed quite a few attempts to achieve that. Katie Holzheimer made five of the long-rangers and Tracy Meischner made the other. The Tigers' six-for-26 stats in 3-pointers were part of 18-for-61 overall stats in field goals.

Their freethrow numbers were six of 12.

MaKenzie Smith made a statement for MACA in the loss, scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds. She led the team in both categories. Nicole Strobel grabbed six rebounds.

Beth Holland and Courtney Gades each had three assists. Gades and Holzheimer each stole the ball twice.

Smith with her harvest of 21 points was followed on the scoring list by: Holzheimer (15), Meischner (5), Brooke Wente (3), Holly Amundson (2) and Holland (2).

The MACA stat in attempted 3-pointers seems substantial, at 26, but New London-Spicer eclipsed that, putting up 29 tries from what a lot of us writers used to call "three-point land." My goodness, that's nearly half the NL-S total in field goal attempts.

Is this a trend? Even if the percentage of makes seems low, which it often is, is the extra point for each success enough justification for this approach? Interesting.

Boys basketball: Monte 56, Tigers 43

Tuesday, Jan. 24, was a big day in WCC-South boys hoops, featuring a clash of upper-crust teams. The site was Montevideo. The MACA Tigers took the court there hoping to preserve their unbeaten status in conference wars.

The host Thunder Hawks were striving to take advantage of an enthusiastic home crowd. Whether or not the crowd was in fact a factor, the Tigers came out on the short end. Coach Torgerson's squad had its conference momentum blunted in a 56-43 final.

The Thunder Hawks led 22-17 at halftime. They came out of the night with still-unblemished conference won-lost numbers, at 5-0, and with an 11-4 overall record.

The Tigers were humbled but owned the still-impressive 5-1 record in conference and 10-4 overall.

Monte's home crowd certainly didn't boost the T-Hawks in three-point shooting. They found a lid on the hoop, going 0-for-9. But while the ball was clanging off the rim, they were able to execute better in other categories. The T-Hawks looked poised in freethrows, going 18 of 25 here.

The made freethrows helped keep the Tigers at bay in the closing stages, when fouling became a tactic for MACA.

The Tigers made four of ten 3-point tries. Logan Manska had two of the long-range makes, and Jacob Torgerson and Chandler Erickson one each.

The Tigers were 17 of 42 in total field goals. In freethrows: five of 12.

Austin Dierks attacked the boards for nine rebounds. Erickson deftly dished out five assists, and he also had three steals to lead in these categories.

Let's roll up our sleeves for the scoring list: Erickson 10, Manska 8, Torgerson 7, Riley Arndt 6, Dierks 6, Lincoln Berget 4 and Nick Vipond 2.

Jake Douglas and Colton Vien topped Monte's scoring with 12 and eleven points, respectively.

Girls basketball: Monte 50, Tigers 47

A tie score at halftime developed into a Montevideo advantage on Tuesday evening, 1/24, at the Morris Area gym.

Kendyl Anderson of the Thunder Hawks was a major force denying the Tigers victory on this night. Anderson made four 3-pointers and posted 18 points.

The Tigers shot decent in 3's, making four such shots, and were 15 of 56 in total field goals. Katie Holzheimer made three shots from beyond the three-point stripe. Beth Holland had the other success in that department.

Holzheimer finished with a team-leading 13 points and Holland with ten. In between these Tigers on the scoring list was Nicole Strobel who put in eleven points. Tracy Meischner scored six points, MaKenzie Smith five and Brooke Wente 2.

Meischner led in rebounds with ten followed by Holland with nine and Strobel with seven. Meischner and Courtney Gades each had three assists.

Meischner made her presence felt in steals too, accumulating five, while Smith had three.

The Tigers made 13 of 22 freethrow attempts.

The halftime score was 28-28. The home court wasn't enough to give the Tigers their desired second half push.

Kendyl Anderson and her T-Hawk mates picked up their sixth win of the season.

Coach Dale Henrich's Tigers came out of the night at 5-11 in overall, 3-6 in conference.

Girls basketball: Litchfield 58, Tigers 49

The Walsh sisters had big impact for their Litchfield Dragon hoops squad on Saturday, Jan. 21, here vs. the MACA Tigers.

Greta Walsh was precise and poised in her shooting, putting on a clinic from long range. Greta made seven 3-pointers as (a big) part of scoring 26 points.

Sister Shelbie Walsh scored eleven points as the Dragons downed the Tigers 58-49.

Bailey Koch put in 13 points for the victor.

Litchfield charged out of the starting gate strong and owned a 35-24 lead at halftime. The Tigers outscored the Dragons 25-23 in the second half.

The Tigers made five 3-pointers but needed 20 attempts to do so. Katie Holzheimer made three of those long-rangers. Courtney Gades and MaKenzie Smith each connected for one.

It was Smith leading in rebounds with eight followed by Nicole Strobel with five. Tracy Meischner led in assists with four. Holzheimer's three steals made her team-best.

The Tigers were 18 of 48 in total field goals. In freethrows: eight of 15.

Holzheimer topped the scoring list with 15 points and was joined in double figures by Beth Holland (12) and Strobel (10).

The three other Tigers in the scoring list were Smith (7), Gades (3) and Meischner (2).

- Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com